As is well known, with the evolution of telecommunications, networks for cellular phones become more and more complex, and consequently it becomes more difficult to verify the behavior of such networks, taking into account the various possible scenarios, represented for instance by the number and type of apparatuses being used, typology of available services and time distribution of such services.
It is also known that with the evolution of telecommunications various types of systems for cellular telephones are available on the market, such as the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) system and the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), and different technological implementations, such as those represented by apparatuses of different manufacturers, and that, therefore, the choice among various alternatives of scenarios which as such is already difficult for a same type of network, becomes even more complex if it is to be made taking into account different systems and different technological solutions.
The evaluation of complex scenarios and the choice among alternatives of different systems and technologies have always been faced by the present art in a partial way, that is through simulation environments (simulators) either lacking, of modularity or applicable to contexts of limited complexity only or applicable to only a typology of system or technology.
For instance, general purpose simulators are known which, even if theoretically capable of simulating different networks, have on the other hand the strong limitation of not being able to simulate networks characterized by a high complexity in terms of quantity of apparatuses, because, due to their architectural structure, they cannot be practically used in such contexts.
As a matter of fact, owing to the definition modalities of the network scenario to be simulated, usually performed through uncompiled files (i.e. files that have to be interpreted by the system), general-purpose simulators require exponentially increasing simulation times as a function of the network complexity in terms of number of apparatuses.
There are known as well simulators of “custom” type, developed for instance by research establishments that are capable of simulating complex networks in terms of number of apparatuses, however structured with specifically optimized architectures for the simulation of problems or specific systems or specific technologies of a particular manufacturer, and therefore they cannot be used for the simulation of different networks of different technology.
In essence, the instruments known so far are inadequate to meet the twofold requirement of simulating complex networks in terms of quantity of apparatuses and network type, and of comparing, through simulation, the behavior of such networks within the different technological contexts as a function of the services being offered.
As a matter of fact, the instruments available so far meet, to a limited extent only, one of the two requirements above, thus making only partially possible the use of the same simulators and requiring from time to time to resort to field measurements for result accuracy check or to use a plurality of simulators for the analysis of the various operation characteristics of the networks as the possible situations vary.